30 May 2012
This Biosecurity Advice informs stakeholders that the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has finalised a biosecurity policy for the importation of zoo perissodactyls from approved countries. Importation of zoo perissodactyls may be permitted subject to the Quarantine Act 1908, and the application of sanitary measures as specified in the Importation of zoo perissodactyls from approved countries: Final policy review. The policy will be taken into account by decision makers when considering import permit applications for zoo perissodactyls from approved countries in accordance with the Quarantine Act 1908 and Quarantine Proclamation 1998 as amended, effective from 1 June 2012.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) has completed a policy review of the importation of zoo perissodactyls from approved countries. A draft policy review was issued on 15 February 2012 for a 30-day consultation period, which closed on 16 March 2012 (BA 2012/03).
Stakeholder comments were received from the United States Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Kingdom and the Zoo and Aquarium Association, Australasia.
The issues raised included that:
- the draft policy review did not provide evidence that Johne’s disease affects tapirs
- Johne’s disease is not an OIE-listed disease and the proposed biosecurity measures were onerous and a testing option should be considered.
DAFF considered all of the stakeholder comments and the following changes were made to the final policy review:
- import conditions for Johne’s disease for tapirs have been removed
- the duration of residency for rhinoceroses on premises free of Johne’s disease has been reduced to 180 days to be in line with other residency periods
- faecal culture has been included as a testing requirement for Johne’s disease.
Following completion of the policy review, imports of zoo perissodactyls from approved countries will be able to resume under specific quarantine conditions.
The final policy review is available on the DAFF website.
Andrew Cupit
A/g Assistant Secretary
Animal Biosecurity